Sophocles and Antigone
Sophocles is an ancient Greek writer and philosopher, who wrote one of the greatest stories of all time Antigone. Sophocles is also said to be one of the greatest minds in the ancient world. This paper talks about Antigone, achievements and times of Sophocles.
Sophocles was born about 496 BC at Colonus in Attica, near Athens and died 406 BC. He lived in the most brilliant intellectual period of Athens. Sophillus, his father, was a wealth Athenian citizen and gave him a sound education in music, gymnastics, and dancing. He was well known as having a reputation for learning and esthetic taste. He was well versed in Homer and the Greek lyric poets, and because of his industriousness he was known as the “Attic Bee” (Rexine 132). “Do to his youthful beauty, he was chosen to lead the chorus in the Paen of Thanksgiving for the naval victory at Salamis in 480 BC.” (Rexine 132)
In Sophocles’ long life he several times held public office, partly do to his fame as a dramatist and his gentle qualities as a man. “In 440 BC he was appointed one of the generals in the war which Pericles led against Samos, and in 413 BC.” (Magill, Kohler p# 1023) He was also one of the ten commissioners appointed after the failure of the expedition to Sicily, to govern Athens. Pericles once said to him “you know how to write poetry, but you certainly don’t know how to command an army” (Internet)
Sophocles first won first prize, in a competition with Aeschylus, on 468 BC at the age of twenty-eight. During his career he never won less than second prize and gained first prize twenty times, more than any other Greek tragedian. Sophocles wrote more than 120 tragedies, only a mear seven have survived. “Plutarch tells us that there were three periods in Sophocles’s literary development: imitation of the grand style of Aeschylus, use of artificial and incisive style, and use of the best style and that which is most expressive of character. It is only from the third period we have examples of.” (Rexine p#134)
The seven tragedies that survive are Ajax 447 BC, Antigone 442/441 BC, Oedipus at Colonus 401 BC, Tracheniae 437-432 BC, Oedipus Rex 429 BC, Electra 418-414 BC.
Sophocles style of plot structure was usually to begin in media res. This is particularly true of Oedipus Tyrannus. When the reader or audience is first introduced to the main character, Oedipus is already a grown man and king of his country. In the first few lines, talk of a "fiery plague ravaging the city" is mentioned (Sopochles 3). In the very early stages of the play the reader begins to feel pity for Oedipus and recognizes his suffering. The time span is also another important factor to consider when analyzing the plot structure. The play in its entirety takes place within a one to two day period. The flashback scenes into Oedipus' childhood give the audience a better sense of the big picture, but can be misleading when focusing on the time aspect element.
Sophocles was one of the most influential writers of Ancient Greece. He was thought to be born around 496 B.C.E. in Colonus, near Athens Greece, and died at around 406 B.C.E. meaning that he only lived for about 90 years. He was born into a wealthy family, his father being Sophillius, and he was an amour manufacturer in the rural community
In the play Antigone, both Antigone and Kreon could be considered tragic heros. A tragic hero, defined by A Dictionary of Literary, Dramatic and Cinematic Terms, is someone who suffers due to a tragic flaw, or hamartia. This Greek word is variously translated as "tragic flaw" or "error" or "weakness". Kreon's hamartia, like in many plays, is hybris - Greek for overweening pride, arrogance, or excessive confidence. Kreon's hybris causes him to attempt to violate the laws of order or human rights, another main part of a tragic hero. Also, like all tragic heroes, Kreon suffers because of his hamartia and then realizes his flaw.
Antigone Sophocles When a dictator dies, his image and fame dies with him, but when a self-sacrificing individual dies, their legacy begins. This statement is true because oppressed citizens do not fondly mention a mean ruler, such as Creon from Antigone, after he passes away. Yet a martyr, such as Antigone, also from the story Antigone, is remembered for her self-sacrificing deeds. Creon will not be remembered because he did not allow Antigone to bury her dead brother Polynices, and decides to execute Antigone for trying while Antigone’s legacy will live on because she has the courage to defy Creon, and chooses to sacrifice herself for Polynices' honor.
After her mother committed suicide, her father died and her brothers fought until they killed each other, Antigone projects her strong character with interesting ways of showing it. As the main character with strong values and a stubborn way, she follows the laws of god, without minding the consequences. Antigone is a strong willed woman who wins the respect of the audience by the inner strength and resistance of manipulation she has, showing the potential of human kind. She becomes a heroine with noble qualities of mind, heart and soul because she is willing to sacrifice her life, doing what she believes it is right. With a sense of family ties, she is an ideal for humanity, the issue is that she must burry her brother Polynices with an appropriate ceremony since she believes it is the last right for every human being.
Sophocles. Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra. Trans. H. D. F. Kitto. New York: Oxford University Press, 1962.
Antigone was a selfless person with pride as a strong characteristic of her personality. She possibly had feelings of loneliness and anger from the way society has looked upon her family from their past. It took a strong willed person who has no fear of the repercussions to stand up to a king as she did. To make everything all the worst she stood up to a king who was her Uncle and she being a female back in those time, standing up and speaking out for herself was not heard of.
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...se Creon was not yet the king of Thebes during the period of Oedipus’s ruling, and Antigone who was not yet a renowned figure acting independently in her own will without any dilemmas. It is until the story of Antigone when Antoine’s rights are desecrated by the might of Creon’s rule and that it led Antigone to bail and revolt against it. This is the dynamic that Sophocles sees in Antigone within the society of Thebes, and through the perception of Antigone’s heroic deeds, equal to that against the behavior of Creon, Sophocles exemplify to the audience the unbalance nature in society.
Segal, Charles Paul. "Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone." In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Segal, Charles Paul. "Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone." In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Information about lifes of Sophocles and Euripides are very limited and hard to verify. However, many sources match about following information about their biographies. Sophocles was born at 497 or 496 BCE in Colonus Hippius, now a part of Athens. His father was a wealthy merchant and weapon producer and an important figure in their society. So, Sophocles had the opportunity of taking the traditional aristocratic education and studying art in his early age which was a pr...
The ineffaceable impression which Sophocles makes on us today and his imperishable position in the literature of the world are both due to his character-drawing. If we ask which of the men and women ofGreek tragedy have an independent life in the imagination apart from the stage and from the actual plot in which they appear, we must answer, ‘those created by Sophocles, above all others’ (36).
Sophocles was born around 497 BC and died around 406 BC. He played a large role in the development of Greek culture and theater. He along with the two other most famous tragedy playwrights, Euripides and Aeschylus, are still known today as the greatest of all time. Sophocles was said to be born in a town not far from Athens known as Colonus. In his early years, Sophocles wrote music and would often perform solos at contests. Sophocles was married two time in his life and had two sons by the names of Lophon and Agathon. When Oedipus Rex premiered in Greek theaters, many people enjoyed the play. Aristotle even praised the play by explaining that the imagery and plot were merged very smoothly into one. Sophocles is also credited for writing Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus along with many other famous plays. (http://www.egs.edu/library/sophocles/biography/).
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